This invention pertains to the field of art of fishing with lures or with natural bait containing hooks wherein an attractive appearing lure designed to appear as through it were a natural prey of a desired fish species is used.
As is known to the art, the standard fish hook comprises an elongate shaft. At one end is an eye for fastening to a lead or a line. At the other end the hook is curved in a right, reversing upon itself to form a sharp point for embedding within the mouth of a fish. The point is in turn equipped with a rigid reversed barb, preventing withdrawal of the hook once set beyond a certain point. This insures that the fish will remain firmly affixed to the hook and can be drawn in by means of pulling upon the line fastened to the eye of the hook member.
A particular problem with all fish hooks and lures is insuring that they will be adequately ingested by the fish so that the barb of the hook will be well within the mouth of the fish when the fisherman attempts to set it. Lures are deliberately made to be visually attractive to a fish or have natural or artificial bait placed on it to attract a fish. Several prior art inventions concentrate upon disguising the existence of the hook, improving the visual attractiveness of the lure such as by surfaces, or similarities to actual seaborn prey such as small squid, shrimp or small fish or insects. Other developments include providing hooks having a multiplicity of barbs, methods of increasing the sharpness of the barb, specific angles or pointing of the barb and the like.
All of these prior developments ignore the major problem in that whereas the fish may be visually attracted to the lure, once the lure is partially ingested, there would appear to be a significant tactal and taste difference between the lure and the actual prey. Anecdotal evidence indicates that many fish will taste a lure and then spit it out before it has been sufficiently ingested for the hook to be properly set; the fish may bite a natural bait in such a fashion that removes the bait without causing the hook to be ingested by the fish.